1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an airbag housing of an airbag system, in particular of a side airbag system of a motor vehicle, and to an airbag system having an airbag housing of this type.
2. Description of the Related Art
The present invention is usable on any vehicle, but the invention and the problem on which the invention is based are explained in more detail herein with reference to a passenger motor vehicle.
Modern motor vehicles have a side airbag fastened to the seat side part and inflated in the event of a side crash. The side airbag is located between the vehicle seat and a vehicle structure that intrudes into the passenger compartment. However, due to the geometry of the side airbag and the component thickness thereof, the side airbag constitutes a stiff element that passes on the intrusion pulse in the event of the side crash to the vehicle seat and occupant without any reduction. This results in a severe load on the vehicle seat and on the vehicle occupant. Furthermore, a possible free space between the nondeformable side airbag and the deformable seat structure is not used, since the housing of the side airbag is very stiff.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,312,008 describes an airbag system arranged on a door pillar of a vehicle above a vehicle window. The system has an airbag housing arranged on a deformable, load-bearing structure that connects the airbag housing to the bodywork. The load-bearing structure has a U-shaped profile, and the limbs of the U shape buckle in the event of a severe load to absorb work of deformation. However, this approach is disadvantageous in that a relatively large construction space must be made available and additional components in the form of the U profile and additional fasteners are required. This increases the outlay on production and reduces the possible area of use of this type of side airbag system.
The invention is therefore based on the object of providing an improved airbag system that eliminates the abovementioned disadvantages.